<HTML>Dave, I find a flat, smooth hard surface, such as the side of my pinning tool.=  I lay it on the keybed(or something else flat and close by) and gentl= y push the pin up into the birdseye.  Feeling the amount of pressure yo= u have to apply to the piece to get the pin through(or not) can tell you how= good the fit is.   I always push directly over the pin to avoid a= ny kind of unsupported stress on the part.  I occasionally get a pin ja= bbing in the end of my thumb, but not often. I also use the Mannino broaches.  They are one of the best tools I'= ve purchased based on money spent vs. money earned.  The ends are REALL= Y sharp.  DAMHIK. Dave Stahl In a message dated 4/2/04 4:21:48 AM Pacific Standard Time, jrpiano@win.= eastlink.ca writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-= LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"> I use the Mannino broaches themselves to determine the fit in the birdse= ye. They have handles and the size marked on them. Regards, John M. Ross Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Nereson" <davner@kaosol.net> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Friday, April 02, 2004 3:56 AM Subject: thumb protection when re-pinning >     When re-pinning more than, say, twenty acti= on parts, my right thumb > really gets poked, cut, and chewed-up from repeatedly trying the pi= n in the > birdseye of each part being re-pinned to see if it's tight enough, = then > pushing it into both bushings on the flange, individually, to see i= f they > need reaming, burnishing, or re-bushing, then after reaming, trying= the pin > in the bushings again, maybe making another touch-up operation, the= n trying > the pin in the bushings again, then pushing the pin through one bus= hing into > the birdseye, and, finally, using the plunger-type re-pinning tool = only for > the final push through the birdseye.  That's just one flange. =  After a > couple dozen, my thumb is raw meat, as though I took a rasp to it. >     I've tried using a thimble, but you have to= keep taking it off to try > the pin in the bushing or to pick up a fine tool like a tiny reamer= , > tweezers, or center-pin, then put it back on to push the pin throug= h.  And > with it on, you don't have the sensitivity or control for trying th= e fit of > the pin in the bushing.  Nor do you with pliers.  Maybe s= ome custom-made > leather "thumb boot" through which a center-pin will NOT poke would= work, > but it would probably wear through quickly.  I need a bionic t= humb! >     Gang replacement is different, where you ha= ve all new flanges and you > can chuck a roughened center pin in a drill and use that for the re= amer, > then just push all the same size pins through with the pinning tool= .  But > that's not the case with most actions I work on. >     --David Nereson, RPT </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>